three books

Monday, 28 April 2014

I really enjoy preparing food but I have to admit that this is a fairly recent passion.
I didn't always have such a great relationship with food. It wasn’t an active dislike, more of an apathy that made me somewhat impatient
with the whole process. Having to think about what I was going to cook,
shopping for the ingredients, stopping whatever I was doing every day in time
to do the preparation and finally, cleaning up the aftermath. The only part I
held any enthusiasm for was the actual eating and that perhaps a little too
much.

So, while I don’t think my diet was horrible as far as Western
standards go I knew that was setting the bar pretty low and I was going to have
to do some research.

Typically, the minute I set out to “clarify” something
for myself I dive into a pool of information and stir up a crap load of silt to
muddy the waters. I read about this diet and that diet - some that had a
seemingly sound theory behind them, some that seemed completely irrational and
a few that were downright silly. I also boggled my mind with good fats/bad
fats, good carbs/bad carbs blah, blah until one day I stumbled upon Michael
Pollan’s slim little volume of food wisdom titled Food Rules – An Eaters
Manual”. Like a little ray of sunshine breaking through the grey mist this
brilliant little collection of 64 “rules”, kicked the stuffing out of all the
nonsense around eating.

I realized that what I was actually looking for, and what
I was going to have to put together myself, was a rational diet (if you’ll pardon the pun). It would have to
accommodate my personal preferences, have very few restrictions aside from
logical ones and be super easy to
follow so I could actually stick to it forever and ever amen. Possible? Yes!
Michael was there to help. I’m sure he won’t mind my familiarity because he
seems like a thoroughly decent guy who clearly has a sense of humour – he even
got Maira Kalman to illustrate the new version of his book and since we
obviously both adore her we have that in common right off the bat.

I knew I was on the right path when just about the very
first thing I read was, “Eat Food, not too much, mostly plants”, which pretty
much set the tone for this journey. Suddenly food wasn’t scary anymore. I was
even more relieved when he told me that I could eat healthy without ever
knowing what the hell most of that unpronounceable stuff is on the label. Why?
Because you shouldn’t put most of that stuff in your mouth anyway – and that,
come to think of it is one of the rules.

So I started to think about food in far more basic terms.

Eat Food – I almost want to wedge in the word “real” in
there even though it isn’t necessary, it’s pretty clear that I start by
eliminating everything that isn’t.

Not too much – yes I probably served up biggie portions
of most everything.

Mostly plants – I think it’s fair to say that nobody ever
got fat eating vegetables so a minor, or major, shift toward an emphasis on veggies
was going to help there. That is of course aside from all the other reasons for
not relying on meat as a major food source – animal cruelty, medicating and
consumption of land resources etc. none of which I am any authority on but all
of which come into play when deciding what to put in your mouth.

For myself I would actually prefer a full out vegetarian
diet but my significant other likes meat so how do I compromise? Easy – lean
meats from local, healthy, unmedicated animals. It is more expensive yes, but
when I stopped to consider the serving sizes that we consider “normal” in this
part of the world I realized that I could easily cut the portions in half and
increase the veg factor to compensate if necessary. Which, of course, wasn’t
really necessary since my “portions” were off by about half again anyway.

I was also in the habit of eating a full, huge meal at
dinnertime even when I wasn’t hungry which I’m certain had something to do with
my mother and starving children somewhere and clearly could do with
reassessment. I thought I would begin by writing down the basic principles I
needed to address:

1.Why
to eat

2.What
to eat

3.When
to eat

4.How
and where to eat

#1 – Why do I eat? This sounds like a silly question, I
mean we eat to live right? Well no, sometimes the reverse is closer to the
truth but while I didn’t actually “live to eat” I often ate for reasons other
than hunger. I ate when I was bored, anxious, stressed or sometimes for no
reason at all – simply out of habit, like munching a bag of chips or whatever
while watching a movie. During all of these times I was hardly even aware of
what I was doing.

So step one had to be noticing why I was eating and
making a conscious decision as to whether the feeling of hunger was valid.
“Food Rules” had a great line for assessing actual hunger – “if you aren’t
hungry enough to eat an apple, you aren’t really hungry”. Oh, so harsh, but
true.

#2 – What’s to eat? Rule #24 is “when you eat real food
you don’t need rules” and I think that is really true so I decided to divide up
the grocery list into two categories. First, fresh fruits and vegetables that
can be eaten raw or cooked guilt free at any time provided the aforementioned
apple rule was observed. Second, read
the label foods which aren’t necessarily taboo but must be approached with
caution. If reading the label is impossible see the rule regarding
unintelligible ingredients that basically says if you can’t pronounce it, don’t
eat it. This is closely linked to another rule that says anything your great grandmother
wouldn’t recognize as food likely isn’t.

Seems fairly straightforward – real food, mostly plants –
got it. BUT, no matter how much delectable fruit I have in store there are
times when I crave those salty snippets that taste like manna from heaven but
are actually make by the Kettle Chip Company. That’s why this rule made me want
to kiss his whole face. “Snacks, seconds and sweets only on days that start
with an S”. If you want to be negative you could say that means you can never
have another Double Chocolaty Chip Crème Frappuccino on a Monday OR you could
look forward to smacking your lips while thinking of the one you had on Sunday
- guilt free. I checked it out and sure enough there seems to be some credence
to the theory that allowing yourself to have a day (or two) each week to
indulge (be reasonable) your cravings actually helps you stay on track with a
healthy diet. From a psychological standpoint – deprivation sucks – so how
likely is it that you, okay I, will continue to bypass all the temptations that
waft across my path forever. Now here is the best part, some dietary geniuses
say that an occasional indulgence actually “tricks” your body into stepping up
the natural, fat burning functions which tend to slow down under constant low
calorie conditions. I have zero expertise in that area but it sounds totally
rational to me so it’s in. As Oscar Wilde said, “Everything in moderation,
including moderation”.

#3 – When to eat? In theory it would be nice to be able
to eat when actually hungry but in real life I know that I will snarf down
almost any “instant” food in my path if I allow myself to skip regular meal
times. Worse, if I don’t pay attention to hunger signs until I am suddenly
famished I will inevitably wolf down too much food and feel gross for having
done so regardless of its merit. Eating breakfast gives me a better chance of
making it to lunch. Eating lunch means a higher probability of making it
through to dinner and eating a reasonable dinner at a reasonably regular time
means I really have no bloody excuse to be hungry in the evening so snacks will
more likely be gauged by the “apple” test.

#4 – How and Where to eat? When our children were young
we insisted on meals at the table for all the obvious reasons, family time,
proper manners, and good eating habits in general. Then one day after they were
all grown and gone my husband and I found ourselves balancing plates on knees
in front of the television. After ruining a t-shirt or two with salad oil my
partner suggested that we return to our former custom and save on laundry. I
was happy to do so for a variety of reasons that did not include laundry but
when I started to research habits for my “diet” those reasons became infinitely
clearer.

There is a Zen proverb that says, “when walking, walk –
when eating, eat”. Which of course implies an entire lifestyle and layers of
meaning that have little to do with food but in this case it serves to remind
me that eating in particular isn’t something that you should be doing while
distracted. Setting aside time to eat and turning off television, radio,
computer etc. allows you to be fully conscious of your meal – which
automatically makes you slow down - which allows time for your brain to catch
up to your stomach – which allows you to recognize when you are no longer
hungry – which is long before that horribly uncomfortable stuffed feeling sets
in. It’s logical so it’s in.

As much as I enjoyed reading
and pondering Michael’s 64 fun food rules I knew that I needed to weed that
down to a number I could count on one hand if they were going to stick with me.They needed only to serve to remind me to make
conscious choices about what I put in my mouth and exercise some control over
quality and quantity. So here is my RATIONAL DIET PLAN:

1.Eat regular meals at reasonably regular times
proportionate to actual requirements. This means I actually have to think about
my meal rather than load up a plate – a little pesky at first but it quickly
becomes habit.

2.Eat the simplest, cleanest, best quality and
freshest foods available to you. Mostly plants.

3.Eat when eating – actually enjoying food with
full attention is not only healthier, it is a pleasure. It also makes me very
aware of the value of what I am eating and the reason I am eating it.

4.Eat snacks and goodies only on weekends,
which don’t always happen to be S days in my schedule but the rule still holds.

5.STOP eating when you are no longer hungry,
which is at least a little ways before you are full.

Saturday, 12 April 2014

The host of this weeks drawing challenge is Tammy Lee and she has chosen the theme of "hats" or "caps". The weekly dc is always an opportunity to ponder a concept this way and that and often inspires fond memories. This time I had a flash image of a hat that I had as a child - an honest to gosh Easter Bonnet complete with coloured ribbons that trailed down the back and fluttered in the breeze - yup, I am that old.
What I also remembered is how gorgeous I felt heading off to church that day. I haven't the faintest idea what else I was wearing and likely it didn't matter because my hat was sooo fine.
You don't see so many colourful hats these days which is why this elderly lady caught my eye a couple of weeks ago. I've done a cartoon of her but in no way am I making fun - she was looking (and feeling) fabulous that day.

Visit Tammy's lovely blog for a list of participants in this weeks challenge.